THE COMMODITY ISSUE
S A N R A F A E L , P A R A G U AY
IT ALL STARTS WITH A
SINGLE CUP
Guyra Paraguay is transforming a ‘paper park’ into community-owned forest surrounded
by shade-grown yerba mate agroforestry. This new business venture is set to become self-
sustaining, ensuring a bright future for forest and people alike.
By Nathalia Aguilar Dávalos
t’s a common scene
in Paraguay: a group
of friends chatting,
one holding a cup
three-quarters-full of dried
leaves (for the perfect strength),
taking a few sips from a metal
straw, savouring the taste of the
herbal infusion, refilling with hot
water, and passing it on. Yerba
mate (pronounced matt-ay)
is as culturally entrenched in
Paraguayan culture as tea is
to the English. Its leaves are
part of Paraguayan families’
basic household basket, used
to make hot mate, or cold
tereré, and are part of several
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rituals of indigenous Guaraní
communities, who first
cultivated it centuries ago..
A cup of any caffeinated drink
can spark great conversation
and ideas, and in this case a cup
of shade-grown yerba mate has
launched a ground-breaking
social and environmental
ownership model in Paraguay –
one that is helping protect some
of the country’s most threatened
forest.
San Rafael National Park is
one of the biggest remnants
of Atlantic Forest in Paraguay,
stretching across 72,000
hectares. But despite being
granted National Park status way
back in 1992, it remains a ‘paper
park’ today (the government
only provides two rangers
for the entire area) and it is
part of just 7% of the original
Atlantic Forest cover left in
the region. Most of the park’s
surroundings are occupied by
private landowners dedicated
to conventional agriculture and
cattle ranching, with soybean
as the most important crop.
Alongside them, smallholder
farmers and Guarani indigenous
communities live in vulnerable
conditions in and around the
park, using the land’s natural
Forests and
grasslands conserved
in San Rafael
Photo Mily Corleone
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BIRDLIFE • JUL-SEP 2019